CHAPTER XVIII
THE ROOF
IN the morning, he was very stiff. When he discovered this, he made uphis mind that he was ill enough to stay in bed, which (it beingSaturday) would let him out of having to do the scrubbing. But when, onsecond thought, he consulted Cis, he changed his mind, instantlyscrambled up, put the scrubbing water on to heat, and started breakfast.For he dared not allow Big Tom to know the truth about his condition.And the truth was, he gathered, that his stiffness was due to thoseexercises--also to the baleful effects of the bath!
"Maybe I lost _too_ much skin," he suggested. "Y' think I'm any worseoff for it, with all that skin gone?"
"Oh, you keep it up!" returned Cis. "You won't be stiff as soon asyou've moved around a little. And, oh, Johnnie, don't ever, ever, _ever_wait so long before you bathe again! I'm just _sick_ about what happenedyesterday! I dreamed about it!--though, of course"--catching at a strawof comfort--"it would've been a lot worse if _He_ had been here insteadof the scout man."
Deep-breathing and exercises regularly punctuated, or, rather, regularlyinterrupted, the morning program of work. And bath water took the placeof the scrubbing water in the tub directly the floor was mopped up. ThenJohnnie could not deny himself the pleasure of showing himself to Mrs.Kukor while he still bore evidences of his unwonted, and unspotted,state. Blowing and excited, and looking yellower than usual, hedisplayed his freshly washed neck, a fringe of wet hair, and a pair ofsoapy ears. "And ain't I shiney as a plate?" he demanded. "It's mysecond in two days!"
She turned him round and round, marveling. "Pos-i-tivvle!" she declared.
For a very long time Johnnie had been making a point of skimping theSaturday noon meal, this because Barber came home to eat it.Furthermore, as hot biscuits and gravy made a combination dish of whichthe longshoreman was particularly fond, Johnnie had seen to it that hotbiscuits and gravy did not appear on the table except rarely. But thisSaturday his inner man was demanding more food than usual. His appetitewas coming up, exactly as Mr. Perkins had said it would! So Johnnie setabout preparing a good dinner.
He used a cup of Grandpa's milk for biscuit-dough. And when thebiscuits--two dozen of them--were browning nicely in the oven, heconcocted a generous supply of bacon-grease gravy, and set it to boilingcreamily. There were boiled potatoes, too, and two quarts of strong tea.Not only because he was hungry, but also because he dreaded to let BigTom know just how hungry he was, Johnnie ate half of his dinner beforethe others returned. At the regular meal, he ate his ordinary amount.
"Gee! Water and air'll fix me all right!" he boasted to Cis. "Who'd everb'lieve it!" He was too happy even to fret about One-Eye.
"Haven't I advised you lots of times to wash yourself all over?" shereminded him. "My! I'd bathe if all I had to bathe in was a teacup! Andnow I've a mind to start in on the exercises!" She was too pleased overthe change in him to bring up just then the matter of that first bath.
There was no mistake about Johnnie's improving. Mr. Perkins noted it themoment he stepped through the door one morning early in the next week.He had brought with him a quart-bottle of delicious, fresh milk, andJohnnie drank it, slowly, cup by cup, as they talked. What had helpedmost, Mr. Perkins declared, was the open window at night, the fresh air.And Johnnie must have even more fresh air.
"But how're we going to manage it?" Mr. Perkins wanted to know. "Becauseyou can't very well go out for long walks and leave Grandpaalone"--which showed that Mr. Perkins felt as One-Eye did about it. "Ifthere was a fire, say, what could the poor, old, helpless man do?"
"I never thought of that!" admitted Johnnie. "But"--with clearlogic--"when Big Tom's home, and Grandpa's safe's anything, why, eventhen I ain't ever 'lowed to go for a walk. Big Tom and Mustapha, they'reboth against me and Aladdin playin' in the street."
"What about the roof?" asked Mr. Perkins.
Strangely enough, Johnnie had never thought of that, either. "But AuntSophie wouldn't 'low me to go up on her roof," he remembered. "And Idon't b'lieve the jan'-tress would on this one."
He was right. Though Mr. Perkins called personally upon that lady, andlaid before her the question of Johnnie's health, she was adamantine inher refusal. Even the sight of a two-dollar bill could not sway her,offered, as Mr. Perkins explained, not in the hope of bribing her to doanything that was forbidden, but as pay in case Johnnie proved to be anytrouble; for she had explained, "Kids is fierce for t'rowin' trash'round, and I can't swip the roof only once a year."
Mr. Perkins was keenly disappointed. But he tried to make light of theirset-back, and distracted Johnnie's thoughts from the roof by producingtwo wonderful presents. One was an unframed picture of Colonel TheodoreRoosevelt, looking splendid and soldierlike in a uniform and a broadhat turned up at one side, and a sword that hung from his belt. Thesecond gift was a toothbrush.
Johnnie pinned the picture above Cis's dressing-table box in the tinyroom. The toothbrush (it had a handle of pure ivory!), he slipped insidehis shirt. Mr. Perkins suggested delicately that, when it came to thecare of the teeth, there was no time like the present. But Johnniebegged for delay. "I want Cis t' see it while it's so nice and new," heargued, "--before it's all wet and spoiled."
Cis was fairly enraptured when he showed her the brush. "Oh, I've beenwanting to own a good one for years!" she cried; "and not just theten-cent-store kind! Oh, Johnnie--!" She tipped her sleek head to oneside entreatingly.
Johnnie had foreseen all this. He bargained with her. "I'll swop y' thebrush," he declared.
"Swop for what?--Oh, Johnnie! Oh, isn't it _sweet_!"
Grandpa was in the room. Johnnie raised on his toes to whisper: "For younot t' tell Mister Perkins n'r anybody else when I sneak up on the roofsof nights."
"You wouldn't lean over the edge, Johnnie, and go all dizzy, andfall?"--the brush was a sore temptation.
Johnnie belittled her fears. "Couldn't I jus' as easy fall out of ourwindow?" he demanded.
The bargain was struck; the brush changed hands.
In the face of those two gifts, Cis could never again doubt theexistence of a real Mr. Perkins. "I didn't care awfully whether he was atruly person or not," she confided to Johnnie now. "But as long as he_is_ alive, I think I'd like to meet him. So the next time he comes, youget him to come the time after that between twelve and one, and I'll runhome. I can eat my lunch while I'm walking."
Johnnie considered the suggestion. "You won't give 'way on me 'bout theswop, though."
"Cross my heart!"
After she had used the brush (thoroughly, too), and could not,therefore, retreat out of her bargain, he offered an argument which hefelt sure would clinch her silence. "You wouldn't want Mister Perkins t'find out that y' didn't have a good brush of your own," he reminded her,"and that y' took mine away."
"Oh, I wouldn't!"--fervently. Then, recalling how she had already beenmortified in the matter of his first bath, and returning, girl-like, tothat worn-out subject, "Johnnie, are you positive Mr. Perkins didn't seeyou empty the tub that day? and did he see the bottom of it when thewater was all out? and in the bottom wasn't there a lot of grit?"
He reassured her. "But, my goodness, Cis, you're terrible stuck-up," hedeclared.
Certainly she felt more comfortable. For at once, with a haughty andprecise air, which was her idea of how the socially elect bearthemselves, with a set smile on her quaint face, and modulating hervoice affectedly, she took Mr. Perkins's arm and went for a walk aroundSeward Park (the table), discussing the weather as she strolled, thescenery, and other impersonal subjects. And there was much bowing andhand shaking to it all, while Johnnie stood by, scarcely knowing whetherto be pleased or cross.
"When you come home, and Mister Perkins is here, what'll I say?" heasked; "--just at first?"
"You introduce us," instructed Cis. "You tell him what my name is, andyou tell me what his name is."
"But you know his name!" argued Johnnie. "And he knows yours."
"I can't help it," she returned. "It sounds silly, but everybody does
itthat way, and so you must, or he'll think you're funny."
"Well, all right." It was important that Mr. Perkins should not thinkhim funny, lest that invitation to become a scout be withdrawn.
That night, so soon as Big Tom was asleep, Johnnie made his first tripto the roof; and understood, the moment he emerged from the little housewhich was built over the top of the stairs, why Mr. Perkins hadrecommended it as being more desirable than the street. Of course itwas! The confinement of the past week or more helped to emphasize itsgood points. Ah, this was a place to breathe! to exercise! Above all,what a place from which to see! With the night wind in his hair, andswelling the big shirt, Johnnie stood, high and lonely, like Crusoe onhis island, looking up and around, enchanted.
How much sky there was!--joined to his own square. The clouds, enormousand beautiful, had plenty of space in which to drift about, by turnshiding and uncovering the stars. Lifted almost into those clouds werethe spars of ships, the tallest of the city's buildings, the blacklace-work of two bridges. Oh, how big, how strange--yes, and even howfar removed--seemed this New York of the night!
When he could say good-by to the flat for the last time, could leave itbehind him forever, oh, how many sights there would be for him to see inthis great city! "I'll just go and go!" he promised himself. "In ev'rydirection! And look and look and look!" Going had brought him One-Eye'sfriendship, and Mr. Perkins's. Somewhere in all those miles of roofswere other friends, just waiting to be found.
The cold in the night wind cut short his reflections. He fell toexercising, and drinking in big draughts of the sea air; then hasteneddown on soft foot to his bed. Cis was waiting in her door to see himcome, and he knew she had been anxious, and thoroughly resented it.
"I didn't hurt the old roof," he whispered. But he felt very happy, inspite of his irritation, and genuinely sorry for any boy who did nothave a roof.
Every morning now he enjoyed his splash in the tub; every night heglorified in his taste of the real outdoors. On the following Sunday, hecombined the two pleasures. Big Tom was in and out all day, making itimpossible for Johnnie to bathe even in the seclusion of Cis's tinyroom, which she generously offered to loan him for the ceremony. He didnot accept her offer. He was as sure as ever that Barber would not onlyput a stop to all baths if he discovered they were being taken (on theground that they used up too much soap), but the longshoreman might gofurther, and administer punishment which would be particularlytrying--with Johnnie in a clothesless condition.
He waited for nightfall. The day was unseasonably warm. By sundown thepatch of sky framed by the window was solidly overlaid with clouds,among which the thunder was rolling. A shower was brewing, and Johnniehad an idea. He took the soap and a wash rag to bed with him.
The others were asleep when the storm broke. But Johnnie was just insidethe little house on the roof, shedding his clothes under cover. As therain came lashing upon the warm, painted tin, he rushed forth into it,letting it whip his bare skin as he soaped and rubbed.
It was glorious! And though he dared not shout, he leaped hither andthither in an excess of joy, and did his calisthenics, the lightningflashing him into his own sight. And he took in from the rain, throughtossing arms and legs, the electricity that he lacked--cut off as he hadbeen so long from even the touch of a pavement.
Next, naked though he was, he played scout; and as he romped otherscouts came to romp with him, dropping over the edge of the roof in alldirections, or popping out from behind the chimney and the littlehouse. And all were as naked as he, and as full of joy, and they dancedin a circle with him, and marched, and went through the exercises.
When at last his yellow hair was streaming, and his breath was spent, hedried himself, standing on the stairs, and using the long tails of thebig shirt; then, trousered once more, he crept down and in, to sleep anunbroken, dreamless sleep, wrapped from head to toe in just nothing buthis quilt. Only his small unfreckled nose showed, drawing in therain-washed breeze that came swirling upon his bed through the openwindow.
"It's my beach!" he told Cis proudly the next morning. "I waded--honest,I did! And I pretty near _swimmed_!"
He felt stronger, and consequently did not hate his housework so much.As for his appearance, Mr. Perkins was more than ever struck with itsimprovement when he saw Johnnie again; also, the leader was a triflepuzzled. But other things than breathing and bathing and exercises werehelping Johnnie. He had something to look forward to now--a goal.Indeed, the greater part of his betterment was the result of that freshinterest Mr. Perkins had given him, his pride, and his hope.
"But I'd like t' learn more things 'bout scouts," he told the leader."Is all I have t' do jus' git strong and grow t' be twelve?"
"Steady, old man!" counseled Mr. Perkins.
He failed to see, he said, that Johnnie's teeth looked any whiter. Heacted almost as if he doubted Johnnie's use of the brush. LuckilyJohnnie remembered that meeting which Cis had proposed, and this servedto change the subject. By advice from Cis, later on, he was insuredagainst Mr. Perkins's being so disappointed again. Cis gave him somepowder; and he got fair results from her old brush.
So far as he was concerned, the meeting between Cis and Mr. Perkinsproved utterly profitless. To begin with, in his pride and excitement,he forgot to follow out her instructions regarding the introduction.Instead of pronouncing the two names politely, he ran to Cis, and "Herehe is!" he cried. "This is him! Mister Perkins!"
She stood against the hall door, smiling shyly. Mr. Perkins rose,looking more red than brown, and gave her a soldierly bow, though thatday he was not wearing a uniform, but a gray business suit.
"I'm so glad to meet you," he said. "Johnnie's told me so much aboutyou."
"I--I've got to go right back," was what she said. "Two of the girls 'rewaiting for me downstairs."
"Aw, Cis!" pleaded Johnnie. "Wait! Ain't y' goin' t' exercise with us?"
She went. And though she darted a smile at their visitor, to Johnnie sheseemed all indifference, and he was staggered by it; only to be morethan gratified by her complete change of attitude when she got home atsuppertime. "Oh, he's handsome!" she declared. "My! The girls wouldn'tbelieve how noble and splendid he is! He just can't be as young as yousay, Johnnie, because he's been a soldier in the big war! I know it bythat little button-thing in his coat! Oh, Johnnie, he's nicer than yousaid! Thousands and thousands of times!"
Johnnie swaggered a bit over that. "_All_ my friends is nice," heobserved. "Only I wish I could have One-Eye and Mr. Perkins here both atthe same time!"
He had to give a minute account of Mr. Perkins's visit, and not once,but as often as he could manage to go over the subject before Big Tomcame in. After supper, as they hung in the window together, looking upat the night sky, he had to review all previous visits, as well as thatmemorable, history-making meeting under the Elevated.
"He's like a young gentleman in a story!" she whispered. "And he's awfulstylish! Did you notice?--his handkerchief to-day had a teeny brown edgeto it!"
In the morning, she did an unprecedented thing: rose earlier than usualand helped Johnnie set the flat to rights. The dish cupboard came in forthe most of her attention, a fact which brought loud protests from him,for she used up the whole of Mr. Maloney's precious newspapers, this inmaking fancifully cut covers for the shelves.
"Oh, let's look civilized!" she cried.
She came home at noon, her girl friends accompanying her, but waiting,as before, in the area. She was not so shy as she had been the firstday; instead, she was dignified as she viewed the arm- and leg-work,praised Johnnie with sweet condescension, and thanked Mr. Perkins forall his trouble with quite a grown-up air.
The noon following, she arrived alone (Mr. Perkins had remarked the dayprevious that he would be coming regularly now). As he had appearedearly, and the exercising was over and done, he and Cis went down thestairs together. Johnnie stood outside the door to watch them, andmarveled as he watched. When had he ever seen Cis smile so much? chatterso freely? Now she did n
ot seem afraid of Mr. Perkins at all!
In the hall overhead some one else was watching--Mrs. Kukor. As helooked up, she nodded at him. "Ah-ha-a-a-a!" she whispered, and laid onefinger along her nose mysteriously. Johnnie understood that she wasthinking of Big Tom. He nodded back, and put a finger to his lips.
All that afternoon he was so proud, just thinking of Cis threading thecrowds with Mr. Perkins at her side. Yet she herself was evidently notimpressed by the great compliment the leader had paid her. For the nextday she did not invite a similar experience by coming home at noon; northe next. In fact, she never again dropped in to see the drill. She hadlost interest in it, she told Johnnie--which was natural enough, seeingthat she was a girl.
But! She seemed also to have completely lost all interest in Mr.Perkins!